the medieval monarchies that survive in our midst

Monaco’s royals mark their national day in 2023.
EPA

Although his powers are not unlimited, in Monaco, the prince is not even accountable to the parliament for the powers he does hold. Liechtenstein’s prince enjoys even more powers, including the right to appoint half of the members of the constitutional court.

However, the prince of Liechtenstein’s sovereign power is held in partnership with the people of Liechtenstein. The institutional architecture is built as to allow a system of checks and balances between the prince and the people.

Since a 2003 constitutional amendment, for example, the people can table a motion of no-confidence in the prince if more than 1,500 citizens are in agreement to do so, which triggers a referendum on confidence in him. The same number of citizens can mount an initiative to abolish the monarchy entirely, should they choose to do so.

Andorra and San Marino

The principality of Andorra should more properly be called co-principality, because of its co-princes arrangement. One of the princes is the bishop of Urgell – from Catalonia – and the other is the president of the French Republic (and previously the French king or emperor). So another Andorran peculiarity is that neither of the princes are Andorran nationals.

Emmanuel Macron and Joan Enric Vives, the co-princes of Andorra.
EPA

Following a 1993 reform that established a fully fledged constitution, neither prince holds sovereign power. Their present constitutional role is almost entirely ceremonial. However, concerns remain over the fact that they are not nationals of the state and that the heads of state are selected neither by the Andorran people nor by their representatives. The historical reason for a foreign head of state is the geographical location of Andorra – wedged between Catalonia and France. Allowing itself to be put under this double sovereignty was a guarantee of survival.

San Marino also has a two-headed state but both leaders, called the Captains Regent, are Sammarinese nationals. They are elected by the Grand and General Council (the Sammarinese legislative body) and their distinctive trait is that they serve only a six-month term of office.

The reason for such a short tenure is that San Marino has a population of just under 34,000 people. Everyone knows everyone else, which is a situation that can be detrimental to the independence of elective offices.

Captains Regent can’t shore up enough power in their short time in office to be able to overthrow the republic. The Captains Regent were first established in 1243, shortly before a number of Italian republics were overthrown by wealthy families. One of the reasons why San Marino has been able to survive is because it has prevented one family from being more powerful than the others for centuries.

Microstates are, therefore, not like Europe’s regular-sized states. They have distinctive institutional architectures – and often for understandable reasons.

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Publish date : 2024-12-23 01:47:00

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